SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- The recession has put a damper on Illinois' riverboat casinos, but bingo has become a popular alternative, officials say.
Case in point is the Caritas Hall Bingo parlor in Springfield, Ill., where the parking lot is nearly full every night, the State Journal-Register reported Friday.
Regular Cheryl Jarrett says she's been playing bingo for five or six years and has no intention of stopping even during a recession.
"I gave up the gambling boats for ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- President Barack Obama shouldn't refinance the 5.62 percent jumbo mortgage he took out to purchase a mansion in Chicago, a mortgage broker says.
Jim Brady of PrivateBank Mortgage Co. in Chicago says the long-term rate Obama has represents "very cheap money," The Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
During a White House event on Thursday, Obama showcased several families who have lowered monthly bills by refinancing their mortgages.
The president touted efforts by the Federal Reserve and the ... [full story]

CHICAGO -- Two Chicago men who spent their childhood in jail for a sensational killing in the 1990s are both free for the first time in their adult lives.
Jessie Rankins, 25, was 10 years old and Tykeece Johnson, 26, was 11 when they were convicted of abducting 5-year-old Eric Morse and dropping him to his death from the 14th-floor window of a public housing high rise, the Chicago Tribune reported Friday.
At the time of the ... [full story]

LINDEN, N.J. -- Thieves have stolen more than 63,000 pounds of bait fish from a trucking business in Linden, N.J., the firm's owner says.
XTL Transportation owner Chris Milanes said the fish and the refrigerated container it was being stored in were stolen from early Wednesday morning and he suspects the incident was an inside job, The (Newark) New Jersey Star-Ledger said.
"It's not an open site," Milanes, 21, said. "We're all the way in the back. ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Barack Obama plans to push ahead this year with an immigration bill, a senior administration official says.
The New York Times said Thursday the president wants comprehensive immigration legislation as early as this fall, including a plan to make legal status possible for an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants and making it a priority for his first year in office.
Obama aims to begin addressing the issue in May, seeking to find a ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said those foreigners killed in a shooting rampage in Binghamton, N.Y., may soon receive posthumous honorary U.S. citizenship.
Schumer said in a statement that up to 11 of the 13 people killed in the American Civic Association shooting April 3 could become honorary U.S. citizens as part of proposed legislation offered by the state's senators, CNN reported Thursday.
"The people who were so cruelly and suddenly taken from us in ... [full story]

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- A woman in New Era, Mich., says the Save My Planet Organic Pet Toys pulled by the Meijer supermarket chain are infested with worms.
WZZM-TV of Grand Rapids, Mich., said Debbie Fitzgerald discovered an infestation of worms in the pet toy after purchasing the item from a Meijer store.
An unidentified store representative confirmed the supermarket chain based in Walker, Mich., has pulled the Save My Planet toy from its stores.
Grand Rapids' WOOD-TV ... [full story]

INDIANAPOLIS -- An apparent sword fight in Indianapolis left one person dead and two others with stab wounds, authorities said Thursday.
Sgt. Matt Mount, a spokesman for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, said the incident began when 39-year-old Christopher O. Rondeau and Adolf Stegbauer, 69, got in a fight involving a sword, The Indianapolis Star reported.
Police said when 77-year-old Franziska Stegbauer attempted to intervene in the conflict, she suffered stab wounds and died.
Authorities are unsure ... [full story]

DENVER -- U.S. regulators sued a Colorado investment manager, alleging he ran a Ponzi scheme and used investor money to buy classic cars and Rembrandt masterpieces.
Shawn Merriman, 46, of Aurora, Colo., fraudulently took about $20 million from at least 38 investors in Colorado, Minnesota, Utah through his Market Street Advisers, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a lawsuit filed at federal district court in Denver.
"Merriman repeatedly deceived investors, many of whom considered him a ... [full story]

TAMPA, Fla. -- A 53-year-old man in Florida planned a fatal traffic accident for his wife after repeated attempts to hire someone to kill her, authorities allege.
Authorities accused Edward Graziano of attempting to orchestrate the death of his wife, Debra, on numerous occasions and paying an unidentified man $2,100 to kill her on State Road 60, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Wednesday.
Randy Mowers informed authorities Graziano twice offered him $5,000 in exchange for killing ... [full story]

KEY WEST, Fla. -- A Florida police detective said she nearly shot a teenager who was wearing a belt buckle that resembled a gun.
Detective Donnie Catala of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said after confronting 17-year-old William Morales in response to a possible kidnapping report, the teen reached for what looked like a handgun at his waist, The Miami Herald said Thursday.
"The hair stood up on my neck and I was squeezing the trigger when ... [full story]

RICHMOND, Va. -- A divided Virginia legislature rejected $125 million in federal stimulus money for jobless benefits, contending a rule change it required would raise taxes.
The Virginia Senate voted 21-19 in favor of accepting the money and the state unemployment-system rule change. The change would have made thousands of part-time workers and residents in approved job-training programs eligible to receive benefits.
Virginia's jobless rate is 6.7 percent, with almost 300,000 Virginians unemployed, the state labor department ... [full story]

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Church attendance among Protestants in the United States has been increasing for six decades, reaching 45 percent this decade, poll results indicate.
The Gallup Poll said Thursday its surveys of an unspecified number of people between 2005 and 2008 found that 45 percent of U.S. Protestants attend church, tying the Christian movement with Roman Catholics.
Results of the 2005-2008 surveys indicate that 45 percent of Roman Catholics nationwide are regular churchgoers, a significant decline ... [full story]